Houston's Fourth Ward Christmas Toy Drive 2024
Donation protected
Friends,
We are approximately 5 weeks out from the annual Fourth Ward Christmas Toy Drive, which we’ve scheduled for Friday, December 13th at Rose of Sharon Baptist Church (1106 Valentine). Thanks to your generosity and support, last year’s toy drive was hugely successful in the support we received, the people we served and the smiles we put on kids’ faces. We raised a hair over $68,000, surpassing our goal and crushing previous years’ raises. We served hundreds of kids by purchasing and wrapping over 1,500 items, including bikes, tricycles, electric scooters, shoes, electronics, balls, jewelry, RC cars, nerf guns, dolls, robots, board games, Legos and more. Additionally, we packed and handed out treat bags. Plus, we had over 100 items donated. We also served Dominos pizza, drinks, snacks, and had a face painter, balloon twister, Kona Ice, a bounce house. Both the Houston Police Department and the Houston Fire Department came out. Here is a link with photos and videos from last year: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/a6wp62h111cqarcfy3fwj/AKZxmF6Jqac2wUb6_AVfnko?rlkey=g7bfuwhjk2phst3rrlzjg12lt&st=8uh7sob9&dl=0
Thank you all so much for your support and contributions – it couldn’t happen without you. This is a wonderful event, and sometimes the parents are more touched than the kids. These gifts may be one of the only gifts these kids receive for Christmas. This is very much a grassroots event, and every donation really matters. We strive to be great stewards of your contributions, clawing and scratching to stretch every dollar by tracking down sales and negotiating deals.
If you wish to donate, please do so at your earliest convenience so that we can budget appropriately and begin shopping. Check, Zelle, or GoFundMe. If you would like your donation to be tax deductible, please make the check payable to Rose of Sharon Missionary Baptist Church and send it to me at 1300 Post Oak Blvd, STE 1650, Houston, TX 77056. Any excess funds from this event, if available, will be donated to the church. Even if you are unable to donate, please consider sharing this with your network.
Purchasing, wrapping, packing and transportation are all huge undertakings. Please let me know if you are available to help.
I will provide an update once we schedule the time. Any and all are welcome to come.
Thank you and many blessings.
Derick
About the Toy Drive:
After visiting Rose of Sharon with her dad, Ken Valach, and meeting Dr. Elmo Johnson, Ali Valach (now Ali Valach Greenhalgh) was inspired to ensure the children there would receive at least one gift for Christmas. Ali was a freshman at Memorial High School when she created and organized the first Rose of Sharon Toy Drive in December 2007 with a budget of $500. Being 15 years old and not yet having a driver's license, all of the toys for the first year were ordered online from Target. Ali then wrapped all the gifts and was joined by members of her family as well as the Frank family to distribute the gifts after church on the Sunday before Christmas. Everyone was very excited, and there were even enough gifts for grandparents to take gifts for their grandchildren. The toy drive continued to grow over the next few years with family members and friends supporting the drive with donations. When Ali went to college, others stepped in to keep it going, although Ali has remained involved with the toy drive and enjoys continuing to support it every year. My wife Poneh and I became involved with the toy drive several years ago before taking the reins. The mission has remained the same of ensuring these underprivileged kids who would otherwise receive few or no gifts for Christmas will have something great to open each year, something that even my kids would be excited to receive. Our goal has been to grow the toy drive and transform it into its own event to serve the entire Fourth Ward community and bring the families and community members together at the church.
About Rose of Sharon Church:
Reverend Elmo Johnson is deeply involved in his neighborhood, the Fourth Ward, and he and the church do so much for those residents. If you would like to donate directly to the church, you may do so through the links below or by contacting Reverend Johnson or me. Here are links to the Rose of Sharon church and Uplift 4th Ward, an organization through which Reverend Johnson does much of his work.
God commands us throughout the bible to glorify Him by loving others, being generous and taking care of the poor and those less fortunate.
“There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.”
Acts 20:35
“We want you to know what God’s grace has accomplished in the churches in Macedonia. They have been severely tested by the troubles they went through; but their joy was so great that they were extremely generous in their giving, even though they are very poor.”
2 Corinthians 8:1-2
“Remember this saying, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give. But don’t feel sorry that you must give and don’t feel you are forced to give. God loves people who love to give. God can bless you with everything you need, and you will always have more than enough to do all kinds of good things for others. The scriptures say, “God freely gives his gifts to the poor, and always does right.” God gives seeds to farmers and provides everyone with food. He will increase what you have, so you can give even more to those in need. You will be blessed in every way, and you will be able to keep on being generous. Then many people will thank God when you deliver your gift. What you are doing is much more than a service that supplies God’s people with what they need. It is something that will make many others thank God. The way in which you have proved yourselves by this service will bring honor and praise to God. You believed the message about Christ, and you obeyed it by sharing generously with God’s people and with everyone else. Now they are praying for you and want to see you, because God used you to bless them so very much. Thank God for his gift that is too wonderful for words.”
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
“God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.”
Romans 12:6, 8
“All the Law says can be summed up in the command to love others as much as you love yourself.”
Galatians 5:14
“Share every good thing you have with anyone who teaches you what God has said.”
Galatians 6:6
“Don't get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don't give up. We should help people whenever we can, especially if they are followers of the Lord.”
Galatians 6:9-10
“You obey the law of Christ when you offer each other a helping hand.”
Galatians 6:2
“Honor the Lord by giving him your money and the first part of all your crops. Then you will have more grain and grapes than you will ever need.”
Proverbs 3:9-10
“Giving to the poor will keep you from poverty, but if you close your eyes to their needs, everyone will curse you.”
Proverbs 28:27
“Caring for the poor is lending to the Lord, and you will be well repaid.”
Proverbs 19:17
“Generosity will be rewarded: Give a cup of water, and you will receive a cup of water in return.”
Proverbs 11:25
“Sometimes you can become rich by being generous or poor by being greedy.”
Proverbs 11:24
“But people who obey God are always generous.”
Proverbs 21:26
“If you give to others, you will be given a full amount in return. It will be packed down, shaken together, and spilling over into your lap. The way you treat others is the way you will be treated.”
Luke 6:38
“God has been generous with you, he will expect you to serve him well. But if he has been more than generous, he will expect you to serve him even better.”
Luke 12:48
“Take care of God's needy people and welcome strangers into your home.”
Romans 12:13
“If we have all we need and see one of our own people in need, we must have pity on that person, or else we cannot say we love God. Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it.”
1 John 3:17-18
“An evil person borrows and never pays back; a good person is generous and never stops giving.”
Psalms 37:21
“They gladly give and lend, and their children turn out good.”
Psalms 37:26
“Our sacrifice is to keep offering praise to God in the name of Jesus. But don't forget to help others and to share your possessions with them. This too is like offering a sacrifice that pleases God.”
Hebrews 13:15-16
“Don't be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves. Care about them as much as you care about yourselves”
Philippians 2:3-4
“Instruct them to do as many good deeds as they can and to help everyone. Remind the rich to be generous and share what they have.”
1 Timothy 6:18
Organizer
Derick Craig
Organizer
Lamar Terrace, TX